Monday, June 6, 2011

CLOSED Austen Country review & giveaway from Meredith

Today's review of the documentary Austen Country comes from Meredith of Austenesque Reviews. Austen Country tours places in the English countryside that were significant to Austen, which I personally find fascinating (and have since added this to my (endless) Netflix queue).

Austen Country, located in Hampshire, a county in southern England, filled with rural countrysides and seaside resorts, was home and inspiration to famous author, Jane Austen. (It was also the birthplace of Charles Dickens, but as you can see from the title, this DVD is not about him.) Although Jane Austen moved several times throughout her life, the majority of her time was spent in Hampshire county. For Jane Austen, living in Hampshire, amongst the hills and its natural beauties, was where she found happiness, peace, and inspiration. In this informative and engaging documentary of Hampshire, viewers are enabled to travel on a walking tour of Jane Austen's England and journey to places “where she lived, holidayed, visited, and vividly immortalized in her novels.” The locations filmed and toured in this documentary include: Steventon, Bath, Lyme Regis, Chawton, and Winchester. I took pleasure in the visuals of Steventon Rectory, Chawton Cottage, and Winchester Cathedral. In addition, since I have not yet been to Jane Austen's House Museum, (someday...) I enjoyed the little preview I had of its treasures! Such treasures include: a patchwork quilt worked on by Jane, Cassandra, and her mother; Jane and Cassandra's topaz crosses from their brother Charles; and of course, Jane's famous writing desk.This documentary is about one hour long and includes narration by Liam Dale who is also the director and producer. I'm very satisfied and pleased with the production of this documentary. Liam Dale has fantastic British narrating voice! With beautiful images, picturesque landscapes, and Georgian era music playing in the background, I found this documentary to not only informative, but charming and entertaining! There appears to be three DVDs in this series. The other two include Brontë Country and Shakespeare Country. Austen Country was released in 2001 and Brontë Country was released in 2003. There doesn't seem to be any information about Shakespeare Country, how I would love to track that one down! I watched and reviewed Brontë Country last summer, and have to admit to enjoying the Brontë documentary slightly more than the Austen documentary. This is most likely due to the fact that I didn't really learn anything new from watching Austen Country. If you are familiar with the basics of Austen's life and biography, this documentary, unfortunately, might not teach you anything new. Nonetheless, I am happy to have this lovely and visually pleasing DVD in my collection, and look forward to watching it again in the future!

*** GIVEAWAY ***Meredith is offering up a copy of Austen Country to one winner.To enter, leave a with a way to contact you, and tell us what one place from a Jane Austen novel you'd want to visit.InternationalEnds June 30th

I want to visit Pemberley, specifically the on in the 2005 film. Thankfully, I've had the food fortune to visit Bath and Stourhead Estate, which is where the first proposal scene in the 2005 film takes place.

I have always been interested in Bath. It was so popular over a certain period with all the aristocracy even Queen Victoria visiting it. I have seen pictures of the curving rows of houses and of the baths themselves and would love to explore the city myself.

Pemberley is where I would want to go, and since Pemberley in my imagination is Chatsworth House in Derbyshire then I can actually go there! Whether I will get there this fall or next spring is still the question, but I WILL get there!!

I’ve only been to Bath once but I loved the Georgian atmosphere and want to come back one day. Thanks for this great giveaway. I didn’t even know this DVD existed. Best regards from Barcelona, Spain, martaplayita [at] gmail dot com http://www.englishinbarna.blogspot.com/

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About Me

Fun-loving swf, likes long walks on the beach -- no, wait, that's not right. I don't really know what I want to do with my life at the moment, but I know it will involve books. I am full of contradictions, which I love, and I fully intend to be an eccentric old lady, with cats and sticky hard candy and pink hair. Also, I don't take myself too seriously, which translates as 'I am an utter dumbass,' and that's just the way I like it.
If you're interested in having me review your book, contact me at mbradenwf@gmail.com Please note: my tastes lean heavily toward urban fantasy, paranormal romance, magical realism, sci-fi, and fairy tale retellings. I have events dedicated to fairy tales, Halloween and Jane Austen, and will generally accept books in those categories. And I DO NOT accept e-books.